13.10.17

Senator Misau: Lawyer faults Buhari’s govt, says trial political

A public interest lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, on Thursday faulted the
prosecution of Senator Isa Misau by the Attorney-General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), saying it smells of politics.
He regretted that instead of the Office of the Inspector-General of
Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to respond
to the concerns of a Senator of the Federal Republic, “they chose to
first defame him by calling him a deserter and now a politically
motivated criminal action.”

Olajengbesi in a statement issued in Abuja said charging him to court
had betrayed public sensibilities and confidence on the anti-corruption
stance of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “Where is the report of a neutral panel setup to look into
the allegations of the Senator. I make bold to state that it amount to
seating logic on its head to permit the Nigeria Police to constitute a
panel and look into it own corruption issues.
“It insults the sacrosanct principle of Nemo Judex in causa sua,
translated, no man can be a judge in his case. Its nonsensical to think
the Police can probe itself, so the panel setup cannot be valid. What we
are seeing is simply political persecution which will not succeed.
“One would want to ask, as every reasonable and objective person
will, between the reputation of the IGP and the collective wealth of 180
million Nigerians which is of utmost importance to the state. The
implication of this is that the charge is baseless and a compromise of
the President Buhari’ s fight against corruption.”

According to him, as a legal practitioner, he knew that it remained
the sole discretion and obligation of the AGF to institute and prosecute
any person who he reasonably believed or suspected to have violated the
nation’s penal laws, particularly with respect to Federal offences or
those committed within the FCT.
Olajengbesi, however, said in the exercise of that power the AGF was
obliged by the constitution to place and prioritize national interest
above every other factor.
“The allegations raised against the person of the IGP should have
first been investigated by an independent body other than the Police
being an interested party or on the otherhand the IGP should be made to
resign so as to give the other officers of the Police Force the leverage
to conduct a proper and unbiased investigation”, he stated.
The lawyer said the allegations against Senator Misau should have
been “backed with compelling evidences sourced after a thorough
investigation.”

He said, “One would have thought that the proper and most acceptable
thing that should have been done was the clarification of the
allegations as it affects the totality of the Nigeria state.
“Is the current development a justification that there is no
corruption in the Nigeria Police Force? Justice as stated in a plethora
of authorities is not a one way thing, it rather is justice to the
state, society and the victim. We therefore call in the interest of
justice to all that the charges be forthwith discontinued and a proper
investigation lodged into the allegations so raised.
“A careful examination of the charge itself will reveal a liquidated
attempt by the Federal government through the office of the
Attorney-General to render abstract the real issues in controversy and
sweep the significant investigtions under the carpet.
“First, Section. 393(1) of the Penal Code deals with publication of
false statement of facts which are made by the accused with the
intention of simply injuring the character of the complainant.
“Before a statement of fact can be categorized as false, the onus of
the relevant bodies to conduct thorough investigations to identify
whether there is a scintilla of truth therein. The exception to section
393 that the statement must have a substance of truth, in which case, no
offence committed.

“Unfortunately, instead of the Office of the IGP and the PSC
responding to the concerns of a well-meaning senator of the Federal
Republic, they chose to first defame him by calling him a deserter and
now a politically motivated criminal action.”